Death Cap mushroom patient moved to Sydney

A patient who ate potentially lethal Death Cap mushrooms has been moved to a Sydney hospital for specialist care.

Three members of the same household consumed the fungi in Canberra late last week and went to the capital's Calvary Hospital for treatment.

One of the patients has since been moved to Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, which has a specialist renal medicine and toxicology unit.

Their condition is unknown.

Death Cap mushrooms can be fatal, often by causing liver failure.

The other two patients are in a stable condition at ACT hospitals.

ACT Health backtracked on its earlier suggestion that the mushrooms involved were bought from a Woolworths store in Dickson, in Canberra's north.

"We'd like to acknowledge the swift action taken by Woolworths in response to the initial information about the source of the mushrooms," said ACT chief health officer Dr Paul Kelly.

"Investigations by ACT Policing in the last 24 hours have found no evidence that the Death Cap mushrooms consumed by the patients were purchased from Woolworths in Dickson.

"Our investigations are still ongoing as to the source of the mushrooms, however this remains an isolated incident and there have been no other recent reports of death cap mushroom poisoning in the ACT."

In Canberra in 2012, a man and a woman died and two others were poisoned but recovered after consuming a meal which featured wild Death Cap mushrooms.

The highly toxic fungus is a native to Europe but has spread around the world, with populations found in Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide. It resembles a common edible variety used in Chinese cooking.